Fall of Monteriggioni

The Fall of Monteriggioni was the decisive battle between the Papal States and the Condottierro Mario Auditore in 1500. Using cannon as well as other siege engines, General Cesare Borgia captured the city and both sides suffered heavy losses.

Background
Condottierro Mario Auditore had been a veteran of numerous wars against the Republica Florentina and other Italian States, fighting in wars since the age of six. He made his money as a mercenary leader, and he lived in the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni, which was an important city in Tuscany. From 1476 onwards it was also the center of the Italian Brotherhood of the Hashshashin Order, led by Ezio Auditore da Firenze in their hunt against the Templar Order. They liberated Florence in 1480 from the House of Pazzi and Venice in 1488 from the Templar-loyal House of Barbarigo, and in 1499 Ezio and Mario stole the Apple of Eden from the Vatican. With immense power, the Assassins seemed unstoppable, so Pope Alexander VI dispatched his son Cesare Borgia and an army to capture the city.

Papal Army
The Papal Army in the battle was equipped with several cannon and siege towers, and they had a large amount of soldiers. They were commanded by Captain-General Cesare Borgia, the French Baron Octavian de Valois, and the Condottierro Micheletto Corella. With cannon, they could bombard the walls and their siege towers could allow their soldiers to scale the walls of Monteriggioni with ease. The Baron de Valois also supplied the men with primitive firearms, called arquebuses. The Papal Army was now up-to-date with battle technology, and was ready to take over control of the Villa Auditore and the city of Monteriggioni.

Mercenaries
The army of the House of Auditore was aided by a contingent of Romagnan troops from the House of Sforza; the rest were all mercenaries employed by Mario Auditore for fighting any battle that he was paid to fight. They were also equipped with cannon, but not as much as the Papal army, and they had only recently installed the pieces; they were not trained well in firing cannon. They had the benefit of defense, holding behind the tough walls of Monteriggioni.

Siege
The firing of cannon woke the people of Monteriggioni, as the Papal artillery blazed away. Many of the people in town, including Ezio Auditore da Firenze, believed that it was artillery training, as they had been informed earlier by some artillerymen on the ramparts. However, they were reassured when a cannonball tore through Ezio's room, forcing him to leave Caterina Sforza on his bed as he dressed and rallied the troops on his horse. Caterina also got up, and she decided to strike the Papal Army from behind with her soldiers.

Auditore's mercenaries held out with cannon for a while, inflicting moderate losses on Cesare Borgia's siege towers and cannon, as well as the infantry. 500 of the villagers escaped into the castle under the cover of the artillery, but the walls did not hold out much longer than that. The cannon on the walls were destroyed and the siege towers landed troops on the ramparts, fighting the mercenaries. Ezio fought bravely against the Papal troops, but by then the battle had already been decided. A wounded Mario Auditore collapsed at the gates and was shot in the head by Cesare Borgia, whose arquebusiers shot Ezio in the chest.

Aftermath
Monteriggioni was plundered by the Papal forces, and Ezio attempted to escape on horseback, but fell off due to his wounds. A woman named Margherita dei Campi nursed him in Rome, and after recovering thanks to a doctor's medicine, he met with Niccolo Machiavelli to start the Liberation of Rome.